The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America 37

The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America 37

"REPAIRING THE CANOE." From an oil painting by Hopkins (_Public

Archives of Canada photo_).]

 

Extremes of dimension appear to have been rare in fur-trade canoes;

none whose length overall exceeded 37 feet have been found in the

records, and the maximum beam reported in a _maître canot_ was 80

inches. When canvas replaced birch bark in the fur-trade canoes,

the high-ended models disappeared; the canvas freight canoes were

commonly of the white man's type having low-peaked ends, or a modified

Peterborough type.

 

Before discussing the methods of construction, the loading and

equipment of the fur-trade canoes should be described from contemporary

fur trade accounts. The goods carried in these canoes were packed into

easily handled bundles, or packages, of from 90 to 100 pounds weight.

Wines and liquor were carried in 9-gallon kegs, the most awkward of

all cargo to portage. In some cases the furs were packed into 80-or

90-pound bundles in the Northwest, and were repacked into 100-pound

bundles before being placed on the large canoes of the Montreal-Great

Lakes route, but bundles lighter than 90 pounds were made up for the

shipment of small quantities of individual goods to isolated posts.

The bundles, or packs, of furs were formed under screw presses so that

500 mink skins, for example, were made into a package 24 inches long,

21 inches wide and 15 inches deep, weighing very close to 90 pounds.

Buffalo hides formed a larger pack, of course. In the canoe, packs were

covered by a _parala_, a heavy, oiled red-canvas tarpaulin.

 

Boxes called _cassettes_ were carried; these were 28 inches long and

16 inches in width and depth, made of ¾-inch seasoned pine dovetailed

and iron-strapped, with the lid tightly fitted. The top, and sometimes

the bottom too, was bevelled along the edges. The lids were fitted

with hasps and padlocks and the boxes were as watertight as possible.

Each box was painted and marked; in these were placed cash and other

valuables. Also carried was a travelling case--a lined box for

medicine, refreshments for the officers, and what would be needed

quickly on the road.

 

[Illustration: Figure 135

 

HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 4½-FATHOM NORTH CANOE, of the type built by

Crees at posts near James Bay in the middle of the 19th century, for

cargo-carrying.]

 

Provisions such as meat, sugar, flour, etc. were carried in tins and

were stowed in baskets which were usually of the form known to woodsmen

as pack-baskets. Baskets also served to carry cooking utensils and

other loose articles. Bedrolls consisted of blankets or robes, made up

in a tarpaulin or oilskin groundsheet and were used in the canoe as

pads or seats. The voyageur's term for the canoe equipment--paddles,

setting poles, sail, mast, and yard, and the rigging and hauling

lines--was _agrès_, or _agrets_.

 

The term _pacton_ was applied to packs made up ready for portage; they

were ordinarily made up of two or more packages, so the weight carried

was at the very least 180 pounds. No self-respecting voyageur would

carry less, as it would be disgraceful to be so weak. The _pacton_ was

carried by means of a _collier_, or tump-line similar to that used

to portage canoes (see p. 122). It was made of three pieces of stout

leather. The middle piece was of stout tanned leather about 4 inches

wide and 18 inches long, tapered toward each end, to which were sewn

pliant straps 2 or 2½ inches wide and 10 feet long. These were usually

slightly tapered toward the free ends. The middle portion of this piece

of gear was of thick enough leather to be quite stiff, but the straps

were very flexible. Sometimes the middle portion and 2 or 3 feet of

the end straps were in one piece with extensions sewn to the latter.

The _pacton_ was lifted and placed so that it rested in the small of

the carrier's back, with its weight borne by the hips. The ends of the

_collier_ were tied to the _pacton_ so as to hold it in place, with

the broad central band around the carrier's forehead. On top of the

_pacton_ was placed a loose package, _cassette_, or perhaps a keg. The

total load amounted to 270 pounds on the average if the trail was good;

the maximum on record is 630 pounds. With his body leaning forward to

support the load, the carrier sprang forward in a quick trot, using

short, quick paces, and moved at about 5 miles an hour over a good

trail. A carrier was expected to make more than one trip over the

portage, as a rule.

 

The traditional picture of the fur-trade voyageur as a happy, carefree

adventurer was hardly a true one, at least in the 19th century.

With poor food hastily prepared, back-breaking loads, and continual

exposure, his lot was a very hard one at best. The monstrous packs

usually brought physical injury and the working life of a packer was

very short. In the early days, and during the time of the North West

Company, the canoemen were allowed to do some private trading to add

to their wages, but when the Hudson's Bay Company took over this was

not allowed and discipline became far more harsh. As a result, the

French Canadians deserted the trade, to be replaced with Indians and

half-breeds. The paddling race against time, to reach the destination

before the fall freeze, was labor comparable to that of a galley

slave, but in a very harsh climate. Altogether, if the brutal truth is

accepted, the life of the canoeman was far more hardship than romance.

 

[Illustration: Figure 136

 

FIVE-FATHOM FUR-TRADE CANOE FROM BRUNSWICK HOUSE, one of the Hudson's

Bay Company posts.]

 

The cargo of a fur-trade canoe was not placed directly on the bottom;

light cedar or spruce poles were first laid in the bottom of the canoe

and then the cargo loaded aboard. The poles prevented damage to the

canoe by any undue concentration of weight. The weight of cargo carried

varied with the size of the canoe and with the conditions of the canoe

route. The canoes were usually loaded deeply, except in the case of the

light express canoe, in which the cargo was reduced for sake of rapid

travelling.

 

An account written in 1800 by Alexander Henry the younger gives the

following list of cargo in a trade canoe on the run to Red River in

the Northwest, where canoes under 4½ fathoms were generally used:

General trade merchandise, 5 bales; tobacco, 1 bale and 2 rolls;

kettles, 1 bale or basket; guns, 1 case; hardware, 1 case; lead shot,

2 bags; flour, 1 bag; sugar, 1 keg; gunpowder, 2 kegs; wine, 10 kegs.

This totaled 28 pieces: in addition the crew had 4 bales (1 for each

paddler) of private property, 4 bags of corn of 1½ bushels each, and

½ keg of "grease," plus bedrolls and the canoe gear. The trade goods

carried to the posts included such items as canoe awls, axes, shot,

gunpowder, gun tools, brass wire, flints (or, later, percussion caps),

lead, beads, brooches, blankets, combs, coats, fire-steels, finger

rings, guns, spruce gum, garters, birch bark, powder-horns or cartridge

boxes, hats, kettles and pans, knives, fish line, hooks, net twine,

looking glasses, needles, ribbons, rum, brandy, wine, blue and red

broadcloth, tomahawks or hatchets, tobacco, pipes, thread, vermillion

and paint, and false hair.

 

[Illustration: Figure 137

 

FUR-TRADE CANOES ON THE MISSINAIBI RIVER, 1901. (_Canadian Geological

Survey photo._)]

 

The tarpaulins used to cover the cargo were 8 by 10 feet, hemmed and

fitted with grommets around the edges for lashings. The cloth was

treated with ochre, oil, and wax to give it a dull red color and to

waterproof it. One of the tarpaulins usually served as the sail. The

fur bales were each sacked, that is, wrapped in a canvas cover that was

sewed on and stenciled with identification and ownership marks.

 

The cargo manifests were not always the same. Compare the previous

list with this cargo, with which two light canoes were each loaded: 3

_cassettes_, 1 travelling case, 2 baskets, 1 bag of bread, 1 bag of

biscuits, 2 kegs of spirits, 2 kegs of porter, 1 tin of beef, 1 bag of

pemmican for officers and 2 for the crew, 2 tents for officers, cooking

utensils, canoe equipment, and 1 _pacton_ for each of the 9 men in each

canoe.

 

The rate of travel varied a good deal, depending upon the condition

of the waterway and of the men. Perhaps, as an average, 50 miles a

day would be the common expectation during a 3-month run into the

northwest. Traveling fast with good conditions, an express canoe might

average as much as 75 or 80 miles a day, but this was exceptional.

 

The number of men required to man a fur-trade canoe varied with the use

required of the canoe, with its load, and its size. There were rare

occasions in which a _maître canot_ had 17 paddlers and a steersman,

but normally such a canoe was manned by between 7 and 15 men, depending

upon how much space aboard was required by cargo or passengers and

upon the difficulties of the route. An express canoe, traveling light

and at high speed, was manned by 4 to 6 paddlers, one of whom acted as

steersman or stern paddler, and one as the equally important bowman in

river work.

 

The most valuable information on the construction methods of fur trade

canoes was obtained in 1925 from the late L. A. Christopherson, a

retired Hudson's Bay Company official. He had joined the Company in

1874 and retired in 1919, after 45 years service, 38 of which he had

spent in western Quebec at the posts on Lake Barrière and on Grand

Victoria. These were canoe-building posts, and Christopherson had

supervised the construction of both the 5-and 4½-fathom trade canoes.

His posts had built the nearly vertical-ended _nadowé chiman_, the

Iroquois, or Ottawa River, type of Algonkin canoe. The actual building

was done by Indians, but the work was directed by the Company men.

 

[Illustration: Figure 138

 

FUR-TRADE CANOE BRIGADE, CHRISTOPHERSON'S HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY POST,

about 1885. Christopherson in white shirt and flat cap, sitting with

hands clasped. Five-fathom canoes, Ottawa River type.]

 

In the building the eye and judgment of the builder were the only

guides, aided by the occasional use of a measuring stick, and

Christopherson made it abundantly clear that the Company had no

rules or regulations that he knew of, regarding the size, model, and

construction of the canoes, nor any standards for decoration. The model

and appearance of the canoes were determined by the preferences of

the builders and the size by the needs of the posts. For example, the

5-fathom canoe had been built at the Grand Victoria post until it was

decided there that a 4½-fathom canoe would serve. The decoration, if

any, was apparently according to "the custom of the post."